Luna blinked and found herself sitting on her bed within Canterlot Castle. With a glance at the familiar tapestries and blue and purple four-poster bed, she sighed and flopped backward, idly brushing a hand over her naked chest.

She had failed. It was the only explanation for being back in Canterlot.

It had been folly to bargain with The Great Heart. The mind of a world was not something lightly toyed with. She would never be worthy of such power.

Luna took a deep breath, only to realize the warmth in her room was far more intense than normal. She must have a word with the castle staff about that. She’d already stripped herself and she was still flushed with heat.

She sat up with the intent to ask a Guard to summon a repair pony to find a single guard standing before her. A familiar unicorn by the name of Azure Night.

“Azure? You usually stand guard outside my quarters.” Luna asked. “Are you well?”

The short unicorn nodded, though her coat color seemed off in the light of the moon streaming in from the open balcony. It was normally a light blue, but it seemed nearly a light purple at the moment.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m well, Your Highness,” Azure whispered, her voice also sounding a little off, though it remained familiar. “I could attempt to lower the temperature for you if you so desire. I have magic that might help.”

“I… didn’t say anything about the temperature,” Luna asked, feeling rather lost.

“I know this is far too warm for your tastes, Highness.”

“Very well,” Luna said hesitantly. “You are welcome to try. Allow me to get a robe on as you work.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Luna slipped past the guard and walked to one of her wardrobes and pulled out a robe of red silk. She tied the sash and turned around—

Azure was less than a foot behind her. Luna yelped softly and jumped back.

Azure’s helmet was gone, revealing oddly familiar violet eyes. Her armor had changed shape as well, modified to change a more curvaceous body beneath. A body she knew.

“What is this?” Luna snapped, taking a step back and preparing a moonbolt. “What are you? Changeling? Trickster?”

“Your trial,” the creature who had been Azure replied. “One thing prevents you from claiming our boon, Luna.”

“I… this is a vision?” Luna looked around the perfect replication of her room. “I don’t believe it.”

The mare’s light blue mane transformed into a distinctive pattern Luna could never forget.

“W-what is this trial?” Luna swallowed hard, still backed up against the wardrobe. “Assuming I am still in the circle, I would know what I must do!”

“Allow yourself to feel again,” said the unicorn before her. Her eyes were glowing faintly. “A specific fear lies deeply rooted within you, Luna.”

“I fear nothing!”

“You fear her,” the changing Azure replied as her muzzle reshaped itself and her chest swelled a little bit. Her hips expanded. The tail became the tail of Luna’s savior.

“I fear no such thing! I do not fear who saved me!”

“You fear being rejected as you were so long ago,” the being said. “You must admit this and face the truth… only then will you have the power to save her.”

“You are not her! And there is nothing… to reject because…”

Two purple wings burst into existence behind the thing that had been Azure, completing the transformation.

“You would have sought her hand much sooner if you had simply confronted your fear.”

“She would say no. I am like a sister to her.”

“You speak for her. Why? Why not give her her own voice?”

“Because I can’t!” Luna shouted at the thing that wasn’t Twilight. Something inside of her broke as she slammed a foot down on the crystal floor. “If you are the trial, you know what transpired this very day! One day, her power will overshadow us all. One day… she will be our Goddess and we will worship her. And we will be right to do so, even if she squirms as we do it!”

“That is only a fraction of what keeps you from her.” The world around them began to fade. “Tell me your fear. Unburden yourself to us.”

“Since my first p-public appearance, she had b-been there,” Luna whispered, her voice cracking. “I saw her as my savior, then as my friend, then as more. She gives so much and asks so little. She stood beside and helped me forgive myself for my sins. I am wholly new because of her. How could I not feel as I do?”

Webs of light etched through what remained of the darkened bedroom.

“You only need speak the truth. You only need accept there is hope.”

“She will become our Goddess,” Luna protested weakly, knowing she was simply delaying the inevitable.

The replica of Twilight Sparkle stepped forward and pressed a hand between Luna’s breasts. “Then why not claim her heart now? You, of all beings, know how important keeping oneself grounded is.”

Luna’s head moved forward, but she hesitated. “You are not her.”

“No,” the other-Twilight said. “But for your trial, we must be her. Friendship is not the only power within this world, as you well know.”

Luna’s tears fell into the void below. “So this is what prevents me from gaining your boon?”

“It is.”

“I did say I’d do anything to protect my subjects.”

“You did.”

“This is a high price.”

“We have found that which is most valuable is priceless.”

“That… is very much something she would say.”

Luna leaned down. She closed her eyes and allowed her lips to meet that of the other-Twilight. It wasn’t a passionate kiss like she had fantasized about. It was scared and tentative. But it was a beginning. Even if it wasn’t real.

Other-Twilight pulled back first and Luna stumbled forward only to catch herself against the bed.

“It is not gone,” the figure intoned. “The rest must be done with her. Do you understand?”

Luna nodded again, swallowing hard.

“And you must tell her why.”

“I shall,” Luna said, biting her lip.

“Then we have an accord, and your fear is broken enough for us to enter you.”

“Enter me?” Luna took a step backward. “What do you mean by that?”

“The transformation you once took put a seed of shadow within you. It is all but withered and dead. If you waited another decade, it would have vanished on its own. But as you are now, we must fill you intimately and wholly, to destroy this thing and replace it with a seed of light. Do you accept this?”

Luna didn’t like the sound of this. She remembered the way the darkness had been ‘intimate’ with her. At the time, she had enjoyed it immensely. Now, she tried very hard not to think about it. But a deal with the light had to be better than what she had undergone before. Right?

“I… will it be painful?”

Other-Twilight smiled faintly. “If you had asked years ago, the answer would have been yes. Now? All you will feel is happiness and warmth. And then, the powers you beseeched will bind together within you… and you shall be reborn.”

Luna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The nearness of the Other-Twilight now felt very distracting.

“I am ready.”

“Take to your bed and settle yourself as you did in the circle.”

Luna nodded and slipped into her bed. She went to her hands and knees and stared into the myriad of branching white lines breaking apart this strange reality. Her rear and tail were up, her chest was down and her body trembled on the hardened bed.

Other-Twilight stepped before her, her eyes now glowing a solid soft white.

“You will not be who you were after this. Do you accept this?”

“I have been many things in my life,” Luna said as she closed her eyes again, forcing her voice not to tremble. “I welcome a transformation into something that lives in the light.”

“Then, I will see you soon,” Other-Twilight said.

A moment later, Luna could feel the emptiness where the avatar had once stood. Then, she could feel the power begin to swirl around her. The world beyond her bed became a maelstrom of magic and Luna couldn’t help but open her eyes again. She stared in wonder as her bed became a circle of midnight blue in a tornado of white with a hint of rainbows.

The light began to slip onto the platform. Luna’s breath quickened as it began to pool directly beneath her. She remembered how the first seed had been planted. She suspected the way it would be destroyed would be much the same.

Light began to slip up her thighs and Luna let out a soft moan of pleasure, only to stifle it. It wouldn’t be right to enjoy this, would it?

The pleasure of creation is in our nature, whispered Other-Twilight’s voice in her ear. There is no shame in it. Embrace the passion of being remade.

And just like that, the fear and shame gave way to a sensual excitement she could barely tolerate. Light began to slip up her arms, this time gently caressing her skin as any skilled lover would. She sighed at the thousand different subtle touches. But most of her attention was focused on her rear half. Namely, because the light had spread to cover her ample rear and hips, leaving only a single empty place in need of connection.

Luna adjusted her position a little and relaxed, giving way to the wonderful warmth. As the light began to stroke her sensitive dock as it coated her tail, it also slipped closer and closer to her slit.

And then, in the blink of an eye, the light had slipped within her.

Luna gasped, shuddering from the intense warmth and pleasure of feeling liquid light pouring into her body, gently loving everything in its path. The light took that moment to slip onto her chest, coating her breasts. Before she could react, she could feel it seeping slowly through her nipples. She moaned lustily, unable to stop her body from bucking as the light filled her, swelling in her breasts and her core.

“Oh, Ancients…” Luna whispered as she began to rock back and forth to the pleasure. Her hair flittered by her face and she could see stars going supernova in there, reacting to the intensity of the joy at being taken by pure light.

The two forces finally met somewhere in her middle and when they did, they exploded. Luna exploded with them, her pussy spasming wildly as the light thickened to give her something to thrust again. It coated the inside of everything, every fiber of her being from nose to hoof. Even her tail and mane had gone pure white as her light lover caressed her breasts lovingly. Before she knew it, she was encased in light, inside and out.

And it was perfect. At the height of her orgasm, time seemed to pause.

You are cleansed in full, Daughter of the Moon, Other-Twilight whispered in her mind. And now, become what you were always meant to be. Think on those who you wish to protect. On friends, on goodness and on love. See them in your mind. Open your heart and soul to them. Do this and take our boon.

Luna smiled and nodded. It wasn’t hard to do. She saw all of the subjects of Equestria, then all of her friends… then the one she’d finally confessed she wanted above all others.

The light flowed over her face again and she felt it pour down her throat, yet she had no trouble breathing. It entered her in every way, but it wasn’t invasive. Her mane and tail were going wild with unleashed energy, but she could barely keep up. She blinked and realized the floor was gone, leaving her floating in nothingness.

Luna saw a brilliant star of rainbow light come rushing toward her. She smiled even wider, closed her eyes and let it come.

Moments later, in that space that wasn’t space, a new star was born.

Author's Note

Heeee~! Luna had totes worked things out with the night sky and they trusted her, but the Heart needed so much more. Gotta make sure your champion's all squeaky clean, right~?

Lemme know about any mistakes by PM so I can fix 'em~!